Rolling door structure



Oct-l2, 1937. w. M. BRUNST 7 2,095,590

ROLLING DOOR STRUCTURE Filed Jan. 8, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet. 1

H Jrwm 6 0 WILLIAM MHBRUNSI 31 pk) 2 Sheets-$heet 2 JwM-v WILLIAM ILBRUNSY;

W. M. BRUNST ROLLING DOGR STRUCTURE Filed Jan. 8, 1956 Oct. 12, 1937.

Patented Oct. 12, 1937 ROLLING 1300B, STRUCTURE William M. Brunst, Co

lumbns, Ohio, assignor to General Door Company, Reno, Nevada, acorporation of Nevada 8 Claims.

This invention relates to rolling door structures and particularly todoors having curtains adapted to be rolled up on drums or similarapparatus.

One object of this invention is to provide a rolling door having acurtain consisting of a reticulated structure, the members of which arehinged relatively to one another so as to be capable of being rolled upon a drum or similar member and unrolled to close the door.

Another object is to provide a rolling door having a curtain consistingof a plurality of rod-like members interconnected by lattice members andhinged relatively to one another so as to form a reticulated curtain.

Another object of this invention is to provide a curtain for a rollingdoor, consisting of a series of short shouldered rods interconnectedhorizontally by bars forming a diamond-shaped structure, the upper andlower ends of which are pivoted upon rods running the entire width ofthe door. 1

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevation, partly in section,

of the rolling door of my invention, showing the door in its loweredposition; 7

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical section through the door of Figure 1,taken along the line '2-2 thereof;

Figure 3 is an enlarged detail view of a portion of the curtain;

Figure 4 is a section along the line 4-4 of Figure 3; r

Figure 5 is a section along the line 5-5 of Figure 1, showing the edgeof the curtain and the guiding member therefor.

Referring to the drawings in detail, Figures 1 and 5 show a wall 10having an opening I l for the reception of a door. Secured to the wallon each side of the door opening H is an angle member 12, as by thebolts 13. To each angle member 12 is secured a channel member M with theopening thereof facing inwardly. The opening is partly closed by flangesI5. These flanges serve the purpose ofretaining the sides of the curtainin lateral alignment, and yet permit the curtain itself to pass betweenthem. To the wall above the opening 11 are secured frame members It, asby the bolts 11. (See, for instance, Figure 1). These frame membersserve to support the shaft 18 and the rotatable drum I9, upon which, thecurtain hereinafter described is rolled when the door is opened. Anysuitable means may be provided for rotating the drum H) in order to windup or lower the curtain. These mechanisms are well known to thoseskilled in the art and form no part of the present invention.

Also arranged above the door opening I l and positioned to conceal andprotect the mechanism 5 is a hood 2i]. This hood encloses the drum l9and the adjacent working parts.

Secured to the drum I9, as by the rivets 2|, are links 22, by which thecurtain, generally designated 23, is secured to the drum [9. The curtain23 consists of a plurality of side plates 24, the upper ends of whichare offset, as at 25, to permit the adjacent side members 24 to beplaced in alignment with one another. The extremities of each side plate24 are bored, as at 2.6 and 21, 15 to receive hinge rods 28 passingtherethrough and serving to tie the side plates 24 together. Pins 28'serve to retain the side plates 24 upon the hinge rods 28. The lowermosthinge rod '28 is provided with a straight side plate 29, secured 20 asby welding to the bottom member 30 of the door.

The bottom member 30 is preferably of T- shaped cross section (Figure 4)and is provided with angled members 3| secured thereto and serving ashandles for assistance in raising the door manually. Secured atintervals along the bottom member 30 are links 32, whose upper ends areprovided with bores 33 encircling the lowermost hinge rod 28. Themid-portion of each side plate 24 is provided with a hole 34 whichserves to receive the end of short end rods 35, the opposite ends ofwhich are secured in similar holes 36 in a lattice or connecting member,generally designated 31, having a central portion 38, angledintermediate portions 39 and end portions it and 4!, which aresubstantially parallel to the middle portion 38. The opposite ends ofthe short end rods 35 are secured to their respective members 24 and 31by any suitable means, the 40 means shown being that of offsetting theends to form an enlarged portion similar to the head of the rivet.

It will be seen that the ends of the short rods 35 are slightly reducedin diameter at the points 45 where they pass through the holes 34 and36, the annular shoulders formed thereby serving as abutments toposition the end rod 35 between the side member 24'and the latticemember 31. Arranged in alignmentwith the end rods 35fare ,50 othershortrods 42 serving as tie members and secured at their ends to similarlattice members 31. 'The adjacent lattice members 31 face one another soas to form a roughly diamond-shaped aperture therebetween. .The lowerend portions 455 40 of the lattice members 31 are bored, as at 43, toreceive the hinge rod 28, and are arranged on opposite sides of eachlink 32, the latter being bored, as at M, to receive the hinge'rod 28.The upper ends B! of the lattice members 31 are similarly bored, as at45, and are positioned to engage one another face to face, the adjacentlower ends 40 of the lattice members 37 thereabove being placed on theouter sides thereof (Figure 3). Thus the upper ends ll of each latticemember 31 serve as spacing members for the lower ends Ml of the latticemembers immediately above. Also the various rods and 52, in conjunctionwith the lattice members 3i and the hinge rods 28, form a reticulatedcurtain having hinged side plates 24 on each Vertical edge thereof. Therods 32 and 35 with their lattice members 31 form rigid units extendingfrom one side of the curtain to the other, each rigid unit being hingedabove and below its rods 42 and 35. The vertical edges of the curtainslide in the channel member l4 and are prevented from withdrawal by theflanges 15 thereof.

In the operation of the rolling door structure of this invention,assuming the parts to be in the closed position shown in Figure 1, thedoor is opened by causing the drum ii) to be rotated by suitable powermechanism. This mechanism may be operated either by power or manually inways well known to those skilled in the art. As the drum l9 rotates, thelinks 22, secured thereto, travel circumferentially around the shaft l8,and the side plates 2d, which are connected to the links 22 and to eachother, are wound up on the rotating drum H! in the manner shown inFigure 2.

Each horizontal unit composed of the rods 35 and t2 and the latticemembers 31 hinges at its upper and lower extremities on the hinge rods.

28 and is deposited upon the periphery of the rotating drum i9 as itreaches that location.

As the curtain is wound up on the drum, the bottom member 38 passes thetop 35 of the opening I! and enters the aperture 51 between the loweredge of the member 58 supporting the hood 20 and the opposing lower edgeof the member 49, the latter being secured to the wall In by the bolts56. When the door is in its topmost position, the bottom edge of thebottom member 39 closes the aperture H. To unwind the door and close theopening, the foregoing operations are reversed, the drum i9 is rotatedin a counterclockwise direction and the various side members 24disengage themselves from the periphery of the drum H3; The side members24 and hinge rods 28 pass downwardly within the channel member Ituntilthe bottom member 30 rests upon the ground or door sill, thusclosing the opening.

It will be understood that I desire to comprehend within my inventionsuch modifications as come within the scope of the claims and theinvention.

' Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A rolling door structure comprising a frame, a curtain-receivingmember adapted to engage said frame, and a reticulated curtain supportedby said curtain-receiving member, said reticulated member having aplurality of spaced hinge membersextending between the opposite sides ofsaid curtain, a plurality ofconne'cting members pivotally connected tosaid hinge members and a plurality of tie rods spacedly engaging saidconnect-- ing members, said connecting members being secured to the endsof said tie rods at points intermediate the pivotal connections of saidconnecting members with said hinge members, certain pairs of saidconnecting members consisting of angled strips bent oppositely to form alattice unit, said lattice units forming a reticulated structure withsaid tie rods and said hinge members.

2. A rolling door curtain comprising a plurality of spaced hinge membersextending between the opposite sides of said curtain, a plurality ofconnecting members hingedly arranged therebetween, and a plurality oftie members having their opposite ends secured to said connectingmembers, said connecting members having their opposite ends pivotallysecured to said hinge members, certain of the horizontally adjacentconnecting members being bent oppositely to form lattice units.

3. A rolling door curtain comprising a plurality of spaced hinge membersextending between the opposite sides of said curtain, a plurality ofconnecting members hingedly arranged therebetween, and a plurality oftie members having their opposite ends secured to said connectingmembers, said connecting members having their opposite ends pivotallysecured to said hinge members, certain of the horizontally adjacentconnecting members being bent oppositely to form a lattice unit, thevertically adjacent ends of said connecting members being arranged inface-toface engagement with one another.

4. A rolling door curtain comprising a plurality of spaced hinge membersextending between the opposite sides of said curtain, a plurality ofconnecting members hingedly arranged therebetween, and a plurality oftie members having their opposite ends secured to said connectingmembers, said connecting members having their opposite ends pivotallysecured to said hinge members, certain of the horizontally adjacentconnecting members being bent oppositely to form a lattice unit, thevertically adjacent ends of said connecting members being arranged inface-toface engagement with one another, the abutting ends of oneassociated pair of connecting members being arranged to space theadjacent ends of the associated connecting members in immediateproximity thereto.

5. A rolling door curtain comprising a plurality of spaced hinge membersextending between the opposite sides of said curtain, a plurality ofconnecting members hingedly arranged therebetween, and a plurality oftie members having their opposite ends secured to said connectingmembers, said connecting members having their opposite ends pivotallysecured to said hinge members, certain of the horizontally adjacentconnecting members being bent oppositely to form a lattice unit, thevertically adjacent ends of said connecting members being arranged inface-to-face engagement with one another, the abutting ends of oneassociated pair of connecting members being arranged to space theadjacent ends of the associated connecting members in immediateproximity thereto, the opposite ends of said firstmentioned associatedpair of connecting members being arranged in spaced relationship withthe ends of the associated connecting members directly opposite saidsecond-mentioned connecting members held therebetween. 6. A rolling doorcurtain comprising a plurality of hinge members extending from side toside of said curtain, a plurality of side connecting members pivotallyengaging the ends of said hinge members, a plurality of lattice memberspivotally interconnecting said hinge members at points intermediate theends thereof, and a plurality of tie members extending between adjacentlattice members and having their opposite ends terminating in theadjacent sides of said lattice members.

7. A rolling door curtain comprising a plurality of hinge membersextending from side to side of said curtain, a. plurality of sideconnecting members pivotally engaging the ends of said hinge members, aplurality of lattice members pivotally interconnecting said hingemembers at points intermediate the ends thereof, and a plurality of tiemembers arranged between adjacent lattice members and having theiropposite ends terminating in the adjacent sides of said lattice members,certain pairs of said lattice members being bent oppositely to formapertures therebetween and adapted to provide a reticulated structure inassembly.

8. A rolling door curtain comprising a plurality of hinge membersextending from side to side of said curtain, a plurality of sideconnecting members pivotally engaging the ends of said hinge members, aplurality of lattice members pivotally interconnecting said hingemembers at points intermediate the ends thereof, and a plurality of tiemembers arranged between adjacent lattice members and having theiropposite ends terminating in the adjacent sides of said lattice members,one end of each side connecting member being ofiset to receive theadjacent side connecting member in alignment therewith.

WILLIAM M. BRUNST.

